Super Camper - Sue Howell

Sue Howell of Beechwood attributes her first camping trip to simple economics. She has been camping ever since for the love of it.

She volunteers as outdoor consultant for the 46 Girl Scout troops in the Scout Service Unit 620, helping arrange camping experiences for as many as 500 Girl Scouts and 100 adult leaders.

This year she coordinated camping schedules and arranged events for some 250 youngsters at Camp Skimino near Williamsburg.

Howell was director of a group representing the Colonial Girl Scouts Council on a 10-day camping expedition to 1982 World Fair at Knoxville. Until she returned to college two years ago, she was an outdoor trainer who helped adults prepare for Scouting camp trips.

She worked with Denbigh Girl Scouts about nine years while her daughter, Cindy, moved through the ranks from Brownies to Cadets. Howell has been a camp consultant for the past eight years.

Her husband, Bill, has been a Boy Scout leader for much the same reason. He volunteered as a Webelo leader when their son became a Cub, and remains the leader of Troop 6 even though their son is no longer in Boy Scouts.

She also arranged a weekend camping program at Newport News City Park for other families in the Warwick United Church of Christ during July, and one for her own family at Buggs Island on the Carolina border during August.

The family love of camping dates to 1964, when they bought a tent for an expedition from an Ohio Air Force Base and her parent's home. Their longest trip came in 1972, when they devoted the month of July to a 7,800 mile trip around the United States.

The daughter of a career Navy officer, she moved from her birthplace in snowy Maine to dusty New Mexico and then to Virginia by the time she was 15.

Howell served eight years as fourth-grade teacher at Orcutt Baptist School. She left the job last June to concentrate on her master's degree in elementary school guidance.

She expects to complete the work at the College of William and Mary in December.